And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you.
Ver. 4. Take heed that no man deceive you] Try the spirits, and turn from false doctrines, as you would do from a serpent in your way, or from poison in your meats. Deceivers are sly and subtle, and that old serpent, more subtle than them all, catcheth the deceived by the deceiver, as the fisher doth one fish by another, that he may make a prey of them both. These, as harpies, a have virgins' faces, vultures' talons; they are ravening wolves in sheep's clothing, &c. Shun them therefore, for they will increase to more ungodliness, and their words will eat as doth a gangrene, 2 Timothy 2:16,17. Theodosius tore the writings of the Arians that were presented to him; a and when he desired to confer with Eunomius, his empress Placilla dissuaded him very earnestly, lest being perverted by his speeches he might fall into heresy.
a Gr. and Lat. Myth. A fabulous monster, rapacious and filthy, having a woman's face and body and a bird's wings and claws, and supposed to act as a minister of divine vengeance. ŒD
b Theod. Imp. laceravit scripta Arianorum pugnantia cum testimoniis divinis. Selnec., Sozom. vii. 7.